Electrolyte drinks : Interesting studies

I've been going through some of my old sportscience stuff (I last studied it about 10 years ago), and checking up on what's 'current thinking' for a lot of things

This article, and the analysis of Noakes is quite interesting, showing that 'electrolyte' drinks don't do anything that regular water can't do.

sweatscience.com/electrolytes-and-overdr...-noakes-vs-gatorade/

(I've got access to the full article in the BJSM if anyone's interested)

Chris P swears by Guinness!!

All that iron!? I suppose not everything can be carbon fibre

hi there well done at the TT on sunday,, but 1 slow time on the thursday,, then a winning time on the sunday,,,, do i smell a rat.....G..

i would disagree, i used to always train on water and got to a point were my sweat wasn't salty and then i'd get migraines, now i use zero 50% of the time and its all fixed.

I'm sure it's different for everyone but tthats what works for me

"i used to always train on water" ........Hi ruth, hope you had mudguards fitted..........G.....

I'd suggest that the switch and the migraines are coincidental OR there's another reason for triggering the migraines which is unrelated to electrolytes.

Bear in mind that the more you sweat, the higher the residual sodium concentration in your body, not less. You're removing water from the water/sodium mix in your body so the proportion of sodium left behind in your body increases, not decreases. Drinking a sodium-rich drink will further increase that proportion, not decrease it.

The apparent decrease in saltiness in sweat is more related to the skin and immediate layers being flushed out and isn't related to the sodium content of the sweat being produced. i.e. unless you've cleansed all your pores before exercise, there will be salts left in there that will get pushed out for the first while of exercise.

As discussed in the research, your body mass changes due to exercise has a far bigger impact on sodium concentration than the contents of the fluid you drink.

"two studies funded by a company which has consistently promoted the erroneous concept that sodium ingestion during exercise can prevent EAHE7 now prove the opposite, specifically that the crucial determinant of the serum [Na+] during exercise is the extent of the body weight change and not the magnitude of any associated sodium deficit. "


(yes I know.. I sometimes take things too seriously.. hey.. I'm a geek, that's what I do )

thank you doctor "have a nice day" ............G

the migranes were difinately exercise induced, to do with over heating, i could feel them coming on at the end of a hard session and running my head under the cold tap for 5 minutes would stop it
(i know i'm odd)

Not at all.. 'effort exertion' is a common cause of headache in exercise, accounting for about 60% of headaches in exercise [1] . It's still a relatively un-researched area in terms of the exact causes, but at least there's work being done to quantify and qualify the prevalence of it.

bjsm.bmj.com/content/35/5/286.full?sid=9...14-a4be-de135b763061

Interesting, thankfully don't get them anymore since using electrolites

Sure if such is true them we are being mis sold and so protected by the sales and marketing of goods act. Why has this never gone to the courts if these studies are to be true??

In my mind, you need electrolytes during endurance training or when there is extreme perspiration. You can taste the salts when you sweat. If it's only in your pores then why after several hours your sweat still tastes salty.

Secondly a lot of sports drinks are marketed primarily as Iso, Hyper or Hypo tonic drinks depending on the amount of carbohydrates (glucose / fructose etc) in them. Two are designed to increase the amount of useable fuel the muscles need to operate and are quickly absorbed. The other is to aid better hydration (less carbohydrate)

The same goes for energy gels and energy bars just more concentrated. Drinks are easier to digest and during high intensity training the stomach will shut down.

What's your opinion on recovery drinks???